Hi guys,
I'm going to purchase my first sailboat (hobie 16') and I'd
like to have a suggestion.
I've got the opportunity to store the Hobie, in hot season, in a cover place
(but with the boat in the water) but it's limited in height so I should
remove/replace the mast everytime I have to sail.
Is it an easy operation that can be done by tho persons or not?
How many time does it take?
Do you advice me to avoid too many remove/replace operations of mast for
the risk of parts breaches?
No problem for the cold season in fact it could be placed in a cover and dry
place, even if I'll have to disasseble it at all.
Thanks a lot and Ciao,
Alex

You're not going to be able to take the mast down on the water, so you're going to have to get the boat onto land in the first place. Once you get the hang of it, stepping the mast is easy and can be done with two people in just a couple of minutes. It is probably also wise to get a mast stepping link if there's only two of you around, especially for the first few times.

Don't worry about taking the mast up and down, in fact if you're keeping the boat on the water it is better to have the mast down as it won't shake around all the time as it would if it were up.

Make sure that the hulls don't leak if you're keeping it on the water, you don't want to come back one day to find it submerged.

All in all, since you will have to get the boat on land to take the mast down, better to keep it stored on land if you can.